Hook-and-eye fastener



May 14, 1968 A. ROSE 3,382,548

HOOK-AND-EYE FASTENER Filed May 20; 1966 FIGI INVENTOR ANNA ROSE ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,382,548 HOOK-AND-EYE FASTENER Anna Rose, 48 Browne St., Brookline, Mass. 02146 Filed May 20, 1966, Ser. No. 551,696 6 Claims. (Cl. 24-228) This invention relates to hook-and-eye separable fasteners, and particularly to an improved hook of the type employed in such fasteners for releasably fastening together portions of garments or other flexible material.

In prior art hook-and-eye fasteners of this general type, it has normally been considered desirable to fasten the hook, hereinafter sometimes referred to as a garment hook, to the supporting fabric or garment with two distinct sets of stitches. One set of stitches is passed through the eyes which are normally provided on the hook to firmly anchor the hook to the supporting fabric, and another set of stitches, known as necking stitches is passed over the shank portion to hold the end of the hook fiat on the fabric surface and to prevent the hook from skewing around the anchoring stitches. Placin the necking stitches by machine has been both diflicult and time-consuming, with the result that it has been a common practice to put these stitches in by hand. Although attempts have been made to produce garment hooks which eliminate the necessity for necking stitches, or which included means for facilitating the installation of such necking stitches, these hooks have not been entirely satisfactory for various reasons. Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved garment hook having a means eliminating the necessity for the use of necking stitches employed in securing conventional hooks to a garment.

Another object is to provide such a garment hook including means to facilitate holding the hook in position while the hook is being stitched to the garment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plane view of the improved garment hook sewn in place on a piece of fabric;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the garment hook shown in FIG. 1, with a cooperating eye shown phantom; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the garment hook.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it is seen that the improved garment hook of the present invention, referred to generally by the reference numeral 10, is formed from a single length of wire. The wire is bent on itself into a first generally U-shaped configuration, with the bight 11 and arms 12, 13 thereof forming the bill 14 of the hook. The arms 12 and 13 are bent downwardly, as viewed in FIG. 2, upon themselves at 12A and 13A, to form the shank 15 of the hook, with the shank extending in substantially parallel, spaced relation to the bill 14. The arms 16 and 17 of shank 15 are generally parallel and spaced apart, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, and extend past the end of bill 14. The terminal end of shank arm 17 is bent outwardly into a substantially closed loop 18 form ing an eye for stitches 19 passing through the garment 20. A similar, substantially closed loop or eye 21 is formed at the end of shank arm 16, again for the purpose of receiving stitches 19.

A tongue 22 extends from eye 21 between shank legs 16 and 17 in the direction of bends 12A and 13A. Tongue 22 includes an upwardly projecting portion 23, as seen in FIG. 2, extending substantially across the throat of the hook and cooperating with bill 14 for resiliently retaining an eye 30, shown in phantom in FIG. 2, within the hook once it is engaged therewith. The resiliency of the wire formin the tongue 22 and eye 21 and, to a lesser degree, of the bill 14, permits a cooperating eye 30 to be passed through the throat of the hook into engagement with the bight thereof, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

A generally U-shaped bend 25 is formed in tongue 22 at a point intermediate bight 11 and bends 12A and 13A, and a relatively straight cantilevered portion or arm 26 extends from bend 25 generally parallel to shank arm 16 and 17 in spaced relation thereto on the side of the hook opposite bill 14. The cantilevered anchoring arm terminates in a pointed end 27 positioned between eyes 18 and 21 as seen in FIG. 1, and spaced therebelow as viewed in FIG. 2. A barb 28 is formed on anchor arm 26 adjacent to point 27 to resist withdrawal of a piece of fabric which has been positioned between shank arms 16 and 17 and the anchoring arm 26. The relative spacing of shank arms 16 and 17 and the anchoring arm 26 is such that the fabric with which the hook is to be employed will be lightly gripped therebetween, and to this end, bend 25 may be slightly increased or decreased as necessary to vary the spacing between arms 26 and shank 15.

To install the hook 10 on a garment, or other piece of fabric, the sharp end or point 27 of anchoring arm 26 is passed through the fabric, and the opening thus formed in the fabric is pushed along arm 26 to engage the bend 25. The cooperation of the bend 25 engaging the fabric, the light gripping action of the arm 26 and shank 15, and the small barb 28 is suflicient to retain the hook in position on the garment until anchoring stitches 19 can be passed through eyes 18 and 21. Thereafter, the cooperation of the two sets of stitches passing through the eyes and the bend portion 25 of the tongue 22 passing through the garment forms, in efiect, a three-point anchor for the hook securely fastening it to the garment in a manner to eliminate skewing of the hook on the fastening stitches 19 or lifting of the hook bill away from the fabric. By confining the cantilevered arm 26 within the overall dimensions of the hook, the size of the improved hook is not materially changed and any hazard from the sharp point 27 is eliminated.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention, I wish it understood that I do not intend to be restricted solely thereto, but that I do intend to cover all embodiments thereof which would be apparent to one skilled in the art and which come within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a hook-and-eye separable fastener including a hook formed from a single piece of wire folded upon itself into a generally U-shaped configuration with the bight of said folded wire being bent upon itself to form the shank and bill of a hook, and a loop formed in each arm of said shank in spaced relation to said hook bill for receiving threads anchoring the hook to a sheet of flexible material, the improvement comprising a tongue extending from one of said loops between the arms of said shank in the direction of the bight of said hook, a U-shaped bend being formed in said tongue, and a cantilevered arm extending'from said U-shaped bend generally parallel to said shank arms and spaced therefrom on the side thereof opposite to said bill, said cantilevered arm terminating in a sharp point positioned between and spaced from said legs.

2. The fastener defined in claim 1 further including a barb formed on said cantilevered arm adjacent said sharp point to resist withdrawal of said point from a sheet of fabric.

3. The fastener defined in claim 1 wherein said tongue includes a portion offset in the direction of said bill within the throat of said hook to form a resilient retainer for an eye engaged by the hook.

4. The fastener defined in claim 1 wherein the longitudinal dimension of said cantilevered arm is less than the overall length of said hook.

3 4 5. The fastener defined in claim 3 further including 9. References Cited barb formed on said cantilevered arm adjacent said sharp UNITED STATES PATENTS point to resist withdrawl of said pointed end from a sheet of fabric. 699,163 5/1902 Fryer 24-228 951,098 3/1910 Altman et a1. 24228 6. The fastener defined in claim 2 wherein said canti- 5 levered arm is positioned to resiliently grip a piece of fabric positioned between said cantilevered arm and said BOBBY Pnmmy Exammer shank. E. SIMONSEN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A HOOK-AND-EYE SEPARABLE FASTENER INCLUDING A HOOK FORMED FROM A SINGLE PIECE OF WIRE FOLDED UPON ITSELF INTO A GENERALLY U-SHAPED CONFIGURATION WITH THE BIGHT OF SAID FOLDED WIRE BEING BENT UPON ITSELF TO FORM THE SHANK AND BILL OF A HOOK, AND A LOOP FORMED IN EACH ARM OF SAID SHANK IN SPACED RELATION TO SAID HOOK BILL FOR RECEIVING THREADS ANCHORING THE HOOK TO A SHEET OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A TONGUE EXTENDING FROM ONE OF SAID LOOPS BETWEEN THE ARMS OF SAID SHANK IN THE DIRECTION OF THE BIGHT OF SAID HOOK, A U-SHAPED BEND BEING FORMED IN SAID TONGUE, AND A CANTILEVERED ARM EXTENDING FROM SAID U-SHAPED BEND GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID SHANK ARMS AND SPACED THEREFROM ON THE SIDE THEREOF OPPOSITE TO SAID BILL, SAID CANTILEVERED ARM TERMINATING IN A SHARP POINT POSITIONED BETWEEN AND SPACED FROM SAID LEGS. 